There’s still no decision on a merger, but already the fallout’s being felt as the flagship Ottakar’s store in Edinburgh is set to close because developers “want to transform the site into a magnet for high-fashion retailers,” the Sunday Herald reports. A total of 26 jobs will be lost and a further 10 jobs are to go with the closure of the Brodies coffee shop, located on the floor above Ottakar’s.
James Boyle, chairman of Edinburgh’s Unesco City of Literature, said: “It is a tremendous loss. The Ottakar’s policy of devolving responsibility for the buying and promotion of Scottish books has been a first-class policy. We will miss that terribly. The shop itself is in a central position, is a bit of a local institution and is arguably Edinburgh’s leading bookshop.”
Meanwhile, the bid for HMV put forward by Permira — first rejected, then reconsidered when the share price went up to 210p — might be struck down again if one unnamed key shareholder is to be believed. “It is an insult to current shareholders. We are not sellers. It is a ridiculous price,” the unnamed fund manager said, and other key shareholders are understood to share his views.
And if the merger actually goes through, what would customers do? A new survey reports that 60% of Ottakar’s customers would migrate to Waterstone’s, and 23% to W H Smith if there was no Ottakar’s in locations presently served by one branch of each chain, according to Publishing News.